Moscow to Seek Legally Binding Security Guarantees from NATO Countries — Lavrov

The minister stressed that the issue here is refusing NATO’s expansion any further, and abandoning the "Bucharest formula" that sees Ukraine and Georgia becoming members of the US-led military bloc

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Moscow believes that obtaining legally binding security guarantees from NATO members is of paramount importance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video address to the Disarmament Conference.

"[Our] Western colleagues have not yet shown any willingness to provide Russia with long-term legally binding security guarantees. <...> For us, achieving these objectives is of fundamental importance," Lavrov emphasized.

The minister stressed that the issue here is refusing NATO’s expansion any further, and abandoning the "Bucharest formula" (2008 Bucharest Summit - TASS) that sees Ukraine and Georgia becoming members of the US-led military bloc. "Western countries should refrain from establishing military facilities on the territory of former USSR states that are not members of the alliance, including the use of their infrastructure for conducting any military activity. It is necessary to return NATO’s military capabilities, including strike [capabilities], and NATO infrastructure to the state of 1997, when the NATO-Russia Founding Act was adopted," Lavrov concluded.